Various different type of tools, and various different types of fasteners, are of course well known and utilized within the building industry in order to accomplish various different construction, installation, or erection operations or procedures, such as, for example, the construction or erection of interior or exterior wall stud frame-works, grids, matrices, or the like, and the installation of interior wall board members onto such interior or exterior wall stud frameworks, grids, matrices, or the like. Interior or exterior wall stud frameworks, grids, matrices, or the like, comprise, for example, a lower track member which may be fabricated from wood or relatively thin gauge sheet metal and which is adapted to be fixedly attached or secured to a floor member which is often fabricated from concrete, an upper track member which may likewise be fabricated from wood or relatively thin gauge sheet metal and which is adapted to be fixedly attached or secured to ceiling members which often comprise wooden beams or joists, concrete slabs, or the like, and a plurality of stud members which are adapted to be disposed within vertical planes so as to effectively define support structures for the vertically oriented interior or exterior wall board members which will therefore, in turn, define the interior or exterior wall structures. The stud members may also be fabricated from relatively thin gauge sheet metal or wood and are adapted to be fixedly attached or secured to the upper and lower track members. The stud members may extend vertically so as to be disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower track members, or they may extend at angular or parallel orientations with respect to the upper and lower track members so as to effectively define cross-bracing within the stud frameworks, grids, matrices, or the like.
It can therefore be readily appreciated, depending upon the particular members, comprising the overall stud matrix, framework, grid, or the like, that are to be fixedly attached or secured together, that various different material-to-material connections or interfaces will be defined and will therefore embody various different installation parameters, characteristics, techniques, and the like. For example, it can be appreciated that when the lower track members are to be fixedly attached or secured to the floor member, wood-to-concrete or sheet metal-to-concrete material-to-material connections or interfaces will be defined, whereas when the upper track members are to be fixedly attached or secured to the ceiling members, wood-to-wood, wood-to-concrete, sheet metal-to-wood, or sheet metal-to-concrete material-to-material connections or interfaces will be defined. Still further, when the stud members are to be fixedly attached or secured to the upper and lower track members, wood-to-wood, sheet metal-to-wood, wood-to-sheet metal, or sheet-metal-to-sheet metal material-to-material connections or interfaces will be defined. Accordingly, it can be appreciated still further that, in view of the various different material-to-material connections or interfaces defined between the various different structural members comprising or defining the overall stud framework, grid, matrix, or the like, various different power tools, characterized, for example by means of various different power levels, and various different fasteners, characterized, for example, by various different structural features, will be used in order to fixedly attach or secure the various different structural members together.
More particularly, it is to be noted further, in connection with the fixation or the securing of various different structural members to other different structural members, such as, for example, the fixation or the securing of the relatively thin gauge sheet metal upper and lower track members to the floor and ceiling members, as well as the fixation or the securing of the relatively thin gauge sheet metal studs to the relatively thin gauge sheet metal upper and lower track members, that various different options are available to construction and installation personnel, operators, workmen, or the like, in connection with the particular tools and fasteners to be selected in order to in fact perform or achieve the installation, construction, or erection of the aforenoted interior or exterior wall structure frame-works, grids, matrices, or the like, comprising such upper and lower track members, and the interconnected stud members. For example, different tools are currently available upon the market which are powered by means of different power sources and which generate different power levels, that is, the tools may comprise gas or combustion-powered tools, pneumatically-powered tools, powder technology tools, electrically-powered tools, and the like. In addition, different fasteners are currently available upon the market which are designed to be used in conjunction with particularly powered tools or implements. For example, various different nails, brads, pins, or the like, may be utilized as a result of being installed by means of suitable nail guns, or the like, or alternatively, various different threaded screw-type fasteners may be utilized as a result of being installed by means of suitable rotary drive tools.
Important criteria to be considered in connection with the selection of specific tools and fasteners for performing, accomplishing, and achieving particular installation, construction, or erection operations, comprise the speed and ease of installation of the fasteners, the pull-out resistance of the fasteners, and the maintenance of the structural integrity of the various different structural components comprising the framework, grid, or matrix. Speed of installation is an important factor because enhanced speed of installation directly affects a contractor's labor costs. Ease of installation is likewise an important factor because facilitating the installation of the fasteners is less fatiguing for the installation or construction personnel, operators, or workmen. Structural integrity of the various different structural components comprising the framework, grid, or matrix is submitted to be self-evident in that if the structural integrity of the various different structural components defining or comprising the framework, grid, or matrix is in fact compromised during installation, construction, or erection of the framework, grid, or matrix, then the structural integrity and service life of the resulting framework, grid, or matrix would obviously be adversely or deleteriously affected. These factors are particularly important in connection with the installation of relatively thin gauge sheet metal structural components. The reason for this is that it is relatively difficult to properly install fasteners within relatively thin gauge sheet metal structural components, such as, for example, the relatively thin gauge sheet metal studs and the relatively thin gauge sheet metal upper and lower track members, so as to properly install and connect the relatively thin gauge sheet metal upper and lower track members to the floor and ceiling members, as well as to install and connect the relatively thin gauge sheet metal studs to the relatively thin gauge sheet metal upper and lower track members. When, for example, fasteners are installed within relatively thin gauge sheet metal components by means of suitable nail-type installation guns or the like, care must be taken to properly control the power level of the installation tools. More particularly, if the power level of the installation tool is too low, the fasteners will not be able to be properly driven into the relatively thin-gauge sheet metal comprising the stud and track members. Alternatively, if the power level of the installation tool is too high, the relatively thin gauge sheet metal structural components may be damaged, and in addition, the holes generated within the relatively thin gauge sheet metal components may be overly large whereby the holding strength and pull-out resistance of the fasteners will be significantly compromised.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a new and improved fastener for attaching relatively thin gauge sheet metal stud members to relatively thin gauge sheet metal track members in a relatively fast and easy manner without adversely or deleteriously affecting the structural integrity of the relatively thin gauge sheet metal stud members or the relatively thin gauge sheet metal track members, and for concomitantly enhancing and preserving the clamping forces and pull-out resistance of the fasteners with respect to the relatively thin gauge sheet metal stud and track members.